Lever carpet-fastener



B. IRVINE. LEVER CARPET FASTENER.

No. 458,903. Patentd Sept. 1,1891,

INVENTOR 8%. 0/9

W M a v@ ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN IRVINE, OF BEEF SLOUGH, \VISCONSIN.

LEVER CARPET-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 458,903, dated September 1, 1891.

Application filed December 13, 1890. Serial No. 374,550. (No model.) I

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN IRVINE, of Beef Slough, in the county of Buffalo and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and Improved Lever Oarpet lack, of which the iollowing is a full, clear, and exact descripion.

My invention relates to improvements in lever carpet-tacks; and the object of my invention is to produce a simple and convenient lever carpet-tack which may be pivoted to a floor, the tacks being designed to take the place of the ordinary carpet-tacks and to operate in such a manner that a carpet may be quickly and easily laid or taken up without using a hammer to any great extent.

To this end my invention consists in a lever carpett-ack constructed substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a broken perspective view showing the lever carpet-tack applied to a floor and to a carpet. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of the lever carpet-tack, showing the manner in which the same is pivoted to a floor; and Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the lever and keeper on the line 0c 0: of Fig. 2.

The floor A is provided at intervals, near the wall B, with recesses a, in which the lever carpet-tacks are pivoted, and the levertacks D have a straight portion (1 near one end, which is adapted to fit in the recesses, one end of the said straight portion terminatingin the hook d, and the hook has a portion (1 which is next the straight part (2', that is nearly perpendicular to said straight portion, the end of the hook d being curved slightly, as best shown in Fig. 1, to enable it to retain its grip on the carpet. The opposite end of the straight portion terminates in a lever D, the general direction of which is at right angles to the straight portion, said lever having the lower part thereof d adapted to be placed near the wall B of a room, and having an outward bend d to enable it to be easily operated.

The lever-tacks are attached to the floor in the following manner: The straight portion d is placed in a recess a of the floor, and a keeper E, which is preferably of sheet metal, is fastened to the floor, so as to extend over the straight portion of the lever-tack, thus holding it in place, and the keeper has strips cut from its under side and doubled under and around the lever to form a bearing for the same, as best shown in Fig. 3.

To fasten the carpet to the floor, the levertacks are first placed in position, as described, and one corner of the carpet F is fastened by an ordinary tack, as shown at f, and the carpet is then stretched along the floor in the usual manner, and when a levertack is reached the lever D is raised and the hook d forced through the carpet from the under side. The lever is then turned down fiatwise under the carpet, as shown in Fig. 1, and the carpet holds the lever down while the hooks hold the carpet. All the remaining levertacks are fastened to the carpet in the same way, and it will thus be seen that the carpet will be firmly held in position.

To remove a carpet, the tack f is taken up and the carpet may then be lifted from the floor, the corner which is first tacked being first raised, and this movement will raise the hooks d and the levers D, so that the carpet will slip readily from the hooks. The lever carpet-tacks are allowed to remain on the floor, the object being to have them permanently attached thereto; and it will be readily seen that a carpet may be quickly laid or taken up, the only use for'a hammer being when the tack f is driven into one corner.

If desired, a tack f may be driven through each corner of the carpet; but ordinarily one tack is sufficient.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A lever carpet-tack comprising a vertically-swinging lever having its lower portion adapted to be pivoted on a floor and having its extreme lower end terminating in a hook, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a recessed floor, of a keeper secured in the recess and a ver tically-swinging lever mounted in the keeper, said lever extending through the keeper and having its short end formed into a hook, substantially as shown and described.

BENJ. IRVINE.

Witnesses:

GEO. Soor'r, H. J. STEWART. 

